Libero

A team of interlopers from Kent are now arguably London's biggest club and with the pendulum of power swinging back Arsenal's way in recent years, a league title appears possible again. Did North London's original club, Tottenham, miss the opportunity to retake primacy? And what are the origins of one of the Premier League's great fixtures? Jonathan Wilson, Jack Pitt-Brooke and Miguel Delaney go deep on the North London Derby. P1: (4:35) P2: (25:33) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week Libero called this the greatest week in football but little did we know the drama to come. In fact, there was so much to talk about we decided a bonus episode was in order. Here to talk through all things World Cup qualification are Miguel Delaney, Jonathan Wilson and Tariq Panja. P1: (1:31) P2: (18:53) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cristiano Ronaldo might not have done it exactly how he would have wanted — getting sent off while losing to Ireland — but the 40-year-old Al Nassr frontman is now on his way to a sixth World Cup with Portugal. On this week’s Libero, John Brewin, James Horncastle and Rory Smith discuss addiction: Ronaldo’s addiction to playing and Portugal’s addiction to Ronaldo, and contemplate whether his wealth, his celebrity and his prominence have started to affect how he is perceived as a player. Do we, somehow, manage not to give one of the greatest players of all time his due? And is that our fault, or his? P1: (7:49) P2: (33:04) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The international break can often seem a chore, but this time around there are bountiful reasons for optimism. Miguel Delaney, James Horncastle and Jonathan Wilson discuss why this week - and specifically this week - is one of the best in world football. There is just nothing like the joy of qualifying for the World Cup, a feat more pronounced because it occurs only once every four years. The lads look back at the years that have made this week what it is - particularly 1993 - and why this purity still persists despite so many questionable changes to the game. P1: (3:30) P2: (34:13) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Liverpool fans rejoiced when the club signed Mo Salah to a new contract. With Liverpool’s title defence in tatters, the team in chaos, have Liverpool got a Mo Salah problem? The Egyptian has lit up Anfield for the best part of a decade but would last season’s title have been the right time to move on? John Brewin, Rory Smith and Tariq Panja try to answer the question and wonder why it’s so hard to say goodbye. They also look at whether we now have an Arsenal against Manchester City title race, consider why the table is so congested, and provide a comprehensive list of Premier League fans who are actually happy. P1: (00:44) P2: (36:16) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There is one big question that today's Libero is seeking to answer and that is: is it fundamentally easier to change the fortunes of a club with less historical baggage? Are the likes of Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton really following in the footsteps of 2003 Chelsea? To do so Rory Smith is joined by Jonathan Wilson and John Brewin for a discussion that covers a lot of ground. P1: (08:57) P2: (40:25) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A quarter of the way through this Premier League season, people are starting to ask: is the football we are watching this year any good? Or has the rise of set pieces turned it into a different game? For almost a decade, Pep Guardiola’s brand of possession football felt like the dominant form but even Manchester City are now playing in a different way. Is there no future in the positional game? Or does Andoni Iraola carry the torch for attacking football? On today’s episode Jack Pitt-Brooke, John Brewin and Jonathan Wilson try to explain why the game has changed so much, and why even the best teams have decided to take a more direct approach. P1: (11:08) P2: (29:03) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The rule of thumb in Scottish football is that if one Old Firm club is doing badly, then the other is doing well. So what happens when both Celtic and Rangers are both in troubled times concurrently? With Brendan Rogers axed as Celtic boss shortly after the departure of Russell Martin from Ibrox, a Hearts team powered by the analytics of Tony Bloom are top of the Scottish Premiership. It seems there has never been a more likely time for an outsider to end Glasgow's hegemony north of Hadrian's Wall, but how have the Old Firm clubs found themselves in such a perilous position? When did buying 'Championship jobbers' stop being good enough? Has the obsession with beating each other hindered their ability to succeed in Europe? Much to discuss for Jack Pitt-Brooke, John Brewin and Rory Smith. P1: (03:56) P2: (32:36) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Many words have been written and spoken about Diego Maradona, but not yet on Libero. That changes now. To celebrate the 65th birthday of the greatest footballer of all time, James Horncastle is joined by Jonathan Wilson and Tariq Panja. There's singing, Scottish accents and anecdotes for all. P1: (00:35) P2: (36:09) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Brewin, Jonathan Wilson and Tariq Panja are here to talk about the world’s biggest domestic fixture - self-styled, perhaps, but deservedly so - it's 'El Clasico'. Real Madrid v Barcelona, as the fixture will be this Sunday, comes at a tumultuous time for La Liga, with the contentious battle over playing matches overseas very much a hot topic. That is discussed, plus the game's history, the two teams' differing tactical styles and management. P1 (01:31) P2: (38:47) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ange Postecoglou was sacked as Nottingham Forest manager on Saturday, after just 39 days in charge. On today’s episode, Miguel Delaney, Rory Smith and Jack Pitt-Brooke discuss his brief tenure and ask why Postecoglou took that difficult job in the first place. Postecoglou has had a distinctive career and remains an interesting figure. So what is it about him and his skills that stands out? Is it his attacking style of play? Or is it his capacity to talk persuasively in public and frame a narrative around himself? And in the modern Premier League era, is that one of the most important skills of all? P1: (19:57) P2: (30:58) Produced by: Tom Bassam, who apologises for a slightly rougher edit than usual. Unfortunately the AWS outage reduced the available edit time. Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Premier League is back, and Arsenal are top of it. There are plenty of reasons to believe they can stay there, too: the deepest squad in the country, an outstanding manager, an uncanny ability to score 95th minute goals from corners. So why does it feel as though every week brings a referendum on their character? Do we undervalue the work Mikel Arteta has done? Is it all part of a PGMOL plot? Miguel Delaney, Rory Smith and Falklands Islands resident Jonathan Wilson ask whether Arsenal are treated differently to everyone else. P1: (09:40) P2: (42:04) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jude Bellingham is seen as England's biggest star, which is why it's very glaring that Thomas Tuchel has broken with decades of protocol and left the Real Madrid man out of his latest squad. Amid talks of the need for squad harmony and the manager's previous comments about Bellingham "intimidating" teammates, there's clearly more to his absence than fitness. Is Tuchel just laying down the law? Or is there an actual danger of Bellingham missing out on the World Cup? Three men who know a thing or two about giant egos, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Jonathan Wilson and Miguel Delaney, discuss this, England's historical, craven need to pick the big names players at any cost and who is actually the national team's current 'best' player. P1: (00:14) P2: (36:21) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hated, adored, never ignored, Margaret Thatcher is one of the most important figures in the history of the country that is home to the world's wealthiest domestic league – this cannot be a coincidence. Jack Pitt-Brooke, John Brewin and Rory Smith discuss how the Premier League has become almost entirely a-political, whether this is a key reason for its rise and if Thatcher's greatest legacy is the creation of an English success story in a sport she cared so little for. P1: (04:04) P2: (43:06) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Saturday brought Liverpool’s third defeat in a week, following reverses at Crystal Palace and the cauldron of RAMS Park, home to Galatasaray. If you were a football doctor and were looking to diagnose reasons for Arne Slot's team looking more like pretenders than champions, what would say? To answer that question Rory Smith is joined Miguel Delaney and Tariq Panja. P1: (01:35) P2: (40:33) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dressing rooms sharing posts about refereeing decisions, managers complaining about their nicknames on X and social media troll campaigns, football is very online these days. Is this just another case of football predicting society? Is it completely a bad thing? Miguel Delaney, James Horncastle and Tariq Panja discuss. P1: (12:56) P2: (36:40) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No progressive football club’s project is complete without an authorised streaming documentary series. They’ve become a significant contribution to football’s reinvention as a content provider. Does authenticity matter? Is Wrexham’s celebrity-assisted rise to be welcomed? John Brewin, Jack Pitt-Brooke and Rory Smith enter the scripted realities of Phil Parkinson, Tom Brady, Brendan Rodgers et al to discuss whether the real story is always left on the cutting-room floor. P1: (11:30) P2: (42:07) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does Aston Villa’s sudden fall from grace say about the wisdom of basing a football club around one man in Unai Emery? Rory Smith, James Horncastle and John Brewin consider a club dogged by PSR and VAR and the implications of transfer guru Monchi stepping away. Villa aren’t alone in their start to the season being poor. West Ham and Wolves are also in the crisis club category, with open rebellion against their ownerships. Where did it all go wrong? P1: (00:33) P2: (40:50) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two of the biggest Premier League stories in September came away from the pitch, and specifically in the boardrooms of Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. First was the sacking of Daniel Levy, Tottenham’s seemingly all-powerful chairman, after 24 years running Spurs in his own unique way. Then, one week later, came the removal of Tim Lewis, Arsenal’s executive vice-chair, who had run Arsenal for the last few years. On today’s Libero, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Miguel Delaney and Tariq Panja look at these moves and explain why exactly Levy and Tim Lewis were fired. Was it because of performance? Or was it because a new generation of owners want to operate their clubs differently? These two stories have been compared to ‘Succession’, and both point to the tension between the ultra-wealthy owners of these generational assets and the executive class who run them. So is this the central tension that defines modern clubs? And are we - as Miguel suggests - now in ‘the age of the owner’? P1: (09:48) P2: (36:34) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod The Sam Wallace column mentioned in the podcast can be found here, you will need to get past The Telegraph paywall. Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ruud Gullit has been booked. iShowSpeed is getting his tuxedo ready. Kaka will be around, probably. That’s right: it’s Ballon d’Or time, and on today’s Libero, John Brewin, Miguel Delaney and Rory Smith — Libero’s balls of gold — discuss the shifting meaning of the trophy, whether the obsession with it is an exclusively modern phenomenon, and the tension of individual awards in a team sport. P1: (10:41) P2: (38:18) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Champions League is back. Or more specifically, the league phase, which starts with matchday one spread over the course of this week. On today’s episode, Jack Pitt-Brooke, James Horncastle and Jonathan Wilson all look forward to this season’s competition and ask whether anyone will be able to challenge Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain for the crown. James explains why this might be the year that Antonio Conte makes an impression with his new-look Napoli side. This will be the second year of the Champions League’s new format, where 144 games are played between September and January to trim 36 teams down to 24. What are the lessons of the new system? Does it mean there is less riding on each game? And does the tournament as a whole have the same weight and prestige in the era of the Club World Cup? P1: (01:58) P2: (34:08) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sunday sees the first Meeting of Manchester United and Manchester City of the season at the Etihad. On today’s Libero, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Miguel Delaney and John Brewin look at the fixture and ask whether it is still one of the biggest in the Premier League calendar. The dynamic between the two clubs has been flipped in the last 15 years, with City now the dominant team of this era and United lurching from crisis. The fixture has lost its edge since its golden period between 2009 and 2013, when City were the rising force trying to topple Sir Alex Ferguson’s United. And while the local rivalry is a huge part of Premier League marketing, the question is whether a game like this can become a global product while still retaining its local appeal. Does it still matter in the same way? P1: (02:43) P2: (33:57) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Libero returns with its smuggest and most chin-strokey lineup ever, as the first-time combination of Rory Smith, Jonathan Wilson and James Horncastle talk about the evolution of tactics. Have we seen football's final great innovation? What does the renewed focus on set-piece mastery say about modern coaching? Does intuition trump all? Can they answer any of these questions without talking about Pep Guardiola? P1: (1:30) P2: (37:36) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He’s the greatest manager in Arsenal’s modern history and the Emirates a monument to his reinvention of the club. Arsene Wenger is one of the most influential figures of the Premier League era but also in French football from his time at Monaco, and is still involved in the game he loves as an employee of Fifa. But could he have won more in France and England? He never got to write his own epitaph with one more major triumph. Meanwhile, his Fifa role and closeness to certain forces within the game have gone against previously strong-held principles. Miguel Delany and Tariq Panja join John Brewin consider the enigma and legacy of Le Professeur. P1: (00:55) P2: (29:44) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's that you say? Every Libero squad member on one podcast? That's right, in order of appearance, Rory Smith, Jonathan Wilson, John Brewin, Miguel Delaney, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Tariq Panja and James Horncastle are here to talk about the most financially lubricated summer in football history - the Premier League's great (and late) spending splurge. We hear about what it's like to try and cover the flurry of transfer dealings on the last day of the window before discussing the driving forces behind the ever-increasing volume of moves, as well as how the power of the English pound reverberates across European football. Part one: (1:29) Part two: (12:27) Part three: (32:03) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United tenure reached a new low on Wednesday night as they were knocked out of the League Cup by Grimsby Town. Critics say he is too wedded to his 3-4-3 system, but has his ideological approach bought him more time than a more pragmatic manager would get? On today’s Libero, Rory Smith, Jack Pitt-Brooke and Jonathan Wilson discuss Amorim’s struggles and the importance of having a philosophy in the modern game. English football has traditionally rejected abstract ideas but that looks to have changed over the last 10 years since Pep Guardiola’s arrival. Is it now possible to get a big job without a clear set of ideas? Or are we starting to see a turn back towards pragmatism through managers like Thomas Frank? Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The European club season is now underway, with the Champions League draw to follow on Thursday. James Horncastle and Miguel Delaney join John Brewin to discuss some of the key questions from the continent. The rest of Europe is taking some surprising decisions to keep up with the Premier League’s riches. Each of the so-called top-five leagues have taken different approaches. Can they work? Or are the major clubs now in control? Plus, some more logs are thrown on the PSR fire. Produced by: Tom Bassam DISCLAIMER: Producer Tom experienced significant technical issues while editing this episode and as a result the audio quality is not up to the usual standard. We apologise profusely and will ensure a return to normal service for episode 048. Email in via [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The biggest story of this summer’s transfer window is Alexander Isak. The Newcastle United striker is so desperate for a move that he has not been training with Newcastle United, and on Tuesday night he finally went public about his desire to leave. On today’s Libero, Jonathan Wilson, Rory Smith and Jack Pitt-Brooke try to get to the bottom of the story of the summer. How outraged should we be by Isak’s conduct? Is he ‘on strike’, insulting the fans, or is he just playing one of the few cards available to him? This summer has shown how clubs treat players, whether Manchester United with their bomb squad, or Nottingham Forest denying Morgan Gibbs-White a move to Tottenham. So in that context does it make sense for a player to try to force his way out? And how can players claw back any power in the marketplace? Is the only route for them to stop signing long-term contracts when they are at the moment of maximum leverage? P1: (00:36) P2: (38:08) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s the initialism on many people’s lips as the transfer window rages on. PSR, profit and sustainability rules: what are they good for? Miguel Delaney and Tariq Panja join John Brewin to pick through the weeds of surrounding what is, in reality, a rather a dry financial regulation covering accountancy to stop clubs spending beyond their means. Though, of course, as it’s modern football, where self-interest rules, it can never be that simple. Can there really be such a thing as financial fair play? Are the scales weighted to serve established elite? Why can’t everybody spend what they want? P1: (00:59) P2: (34:15) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is there a chance that Manchester City's imperial era is over, and might Arsenal-Liverpool be what replaces it? As everyone - again - waits for 'the City case' to end, there are other new uncertainties about Pep Guardiola and his team, whereas we know much more about what the champions and Arsenal are about. Could this herald a new rivalry at the top? Have Arsenal done enough? Have Liverpool done too much? And what of world champions, Chelsea? P1: (03:46) P2: (40:37) Join the Libero Fantasy League: fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/hjjtc0 or via the code hjjtc0 Produced by: Tom Bassam Email John with your Nectar point numbers at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jonathan Wilson sets the new season’s agenda for Jack Pitt-Brooke and John Brewin ahead of Friday’s big kick-off. The title, the drop, the transfer market coming back in a big way and (30:17) the current trend for hulking No 9s are all discussed. Every team gets a mention. Well, apart from one. Can you guess who? Produced by: Tom Bassam Join the Libero Fantasy League: fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/hjjtc0 or via the code hjjtc0 Email John with your Nectar point numbers at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s Libero Jack Pitt-Brooke, Jonathan Wilson and Tariq Panja turn their attention to the Championship. Is it still the most competitive league in the world? Or has that myth gone the same way as similar claims about the Premier League. With parachute payments distorting the competitive balance of the Championship so much, does it make the promotion race more predictable than ever? It’s hard to look past Ipswich Town for the top two places this season. And given the effect of parachute payments, does it make sense for Championship clubs to make their own documentaries? Wrexham and Birmingham City both have TV shows. And while none of the three on the show have watched them, is it the only way to compete? P1 (00:00) P2: (38:30) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He’s the undoubted coaching genius of 21st century football, admired, aspired to, much imitated and rarely bettered, but this summer has been one of unusual uncertainty for Pep Guardiola. Can Manchester City be revived? Does he have the players to achieve that? Jonathan Wilson, John Brewin and Miguel Delaney share their memories of Guardiola’s 17 years at the pinnacle of the game and (37:10) wonder if he has more reinventions to come. Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s podcast, James Horncastle, Jonathan Wilson and Jack Pitt-Brooke turn their attention to next week’s Champions League qualifiers, and particularly Jose Mourinho, who will take his Fenerbahce team to Feyenoord. So why are we still so fascinated by Mourinho even as his career moves further away from the top of the game? Does he embody something that the modern game is short of? And why did football start moving beyond him 10 or so years ago (35:07)? Ultimately it comes down to how you measure or assess greatness, and the episode ends with the question of where Mourinho ranks compared to Pep Guardiola, Sir Alex Ferguson et al, and what his managerial legacy is. Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Horncastle and Miguel Delaney join John Brewin in extending congratulations to England’s Lionesses, and handle the hot potato of patriotism. Will our brave girls really get arrested for saying they’re English? After that (22:23), as Luis Diaz joins Bayern Munich, the stars align for Liverpool’s move for Alexander Isak. What’s brought on all this Liverpool spending? What now for Newcastle? As the picture clears on the summer of strikers, which other deals do they see happening before the window closes? Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s pod James Horncastle, Tariq Panja and Jack Pitt-Brooke continue the discussion on Manchester United and ask: is there any way back to the top for them? (38:00) James points to the examples of how the Milan clubs have dealt with their own loss of status in recent years, and Tariq explains how Valencia have gone from two-time Champions League finalists to a complete mess in recent years. So what does the path back from here to success look like for United? And can anyone guide them along it? Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hated, adored, never ignored, not least because their downfall entertains those who endured the glory years with gritted teeth. Jonathan Wilson, John Brewin and Rory Smith try to pinpoint where it went wrong for Manchester United, the club that was previously too big to fail, and is now so big a farce that nobody knows how long the decline can last and to what depths the fall will reach. Fergie, the Glazers, Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Ole, Bruno, Andy Tate: is no-one innocent? Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s Libero, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Jonathan Wilson and Tariq Panja put the politics of the Club World Cup to one side and stick to the football. Specifically Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea, who can now call themselves world champions for the next four years. It has been a remarkable few months for Maresca and his team, and suddenly all of the doubts about his appointment, and indeed the whole Chelsea project, look like they have lost their sting. Maybe Todd Boehly and Clearlake know what they are doing after all? The second half of the show (37:24) focuses on Crystal Palace, who have been told by UEFA that they will not be allowed into the Europa League next season because of a breach of multi-club ownership rules. Tariq explains why this is one of the very few MCO cases that UEFA chooses to enforce, and why Palace fans are so furious about it. Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now that the Club World Cup is over, Libero’s Miguel Delaney, James Horncastle and Rory Smith discuss what Gianni Infantino’s great jamboree means for football: not just the Saudi money that (indirectly) bankrolled the tournament, but the impetus of American private equity that brought it to this point. Before that, though, they unpack the defining image of the tournament, and possibly all modern football: President Donald Trump making it very clear that he would be celebrating Chelsea’s victory on the podium, in front of the world. Is the whole thing going to be forgotten, as critics say of the football, or are we actually talking about “a transformative moment for the game”? Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jonathan Wilson and Miguel Delaney discuss with John Brewin a big week for Arsenal, and a fever dream featuring one of the Gunners’ potential new strikers. Is the pressure on Mikel Arteta or is that just a perception created by the myth of managers being capable of dragging a team over 'the line', whatever that is? Also, (36:14) if Joe Root sat in the seat next to you in a pub, would you recognise the greatest living English cricketer? Or has football’s dominance dampened his legacy? Is Kevin Keegan still more famous than Harry Kane? Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s episode Jack Pitt-Brooke, James Horncastle and Rory Smith discuss the Club World Cup, where James saw the start of the tournament, with Rory now in New York to see its climax. They ask whether this is the future of football, or just a very clear view of its present. Then conversation returns to last week’s question (27:05): what could threaten football’s dominant place in global culture? Could it be a threat from within football, with the game churning out so much content, or starting to fragment? Or are its threats coming from outside, whether from fast-adapting different sports (cricket or F1), or the technological threats to our attention spans? Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode was recorded before the tragic news about the death of Diogo Jota and his brother. Jack Pitt-Brooke, Rory Smith and, eventually (18:41), James Horncastle try to get their heads around the sheer size of modern football. What happened to other sports? What special advantage does football have over everything else? And what is it about football that has allowed it to become the dominant cultural force in the modern world. And with football now in such a powerful position in the media landscape, the natural next question is whether or not this is actually good for the game. Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can women’s football sustain its exponential growth? Have the men just had a sliding doors without knowing it? The Women’s Euro 2025 gets underway in Switzerland this week with England nursing both (relatively) high hopes and (comparatively) low expectations. Why have two key players withdrawn from the squad? Can England retain their crown? What will failing to do so mean for Sarina Wiegman? And, if tournaments are always a barometer for the game, what will this say about women's football? Rory Smith, Miguel Delaney and John Brewin try to answer those questions while acknowledging that they are all men, or very close approximations of it. They also discuss England’s glorious win in the European Under-21 Championship (35:57), thanks to the great genius of anthem refusenik Lee Carsley - and whether the FA may have made a decision they end up regretting. Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s Libero, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Tariq Panja and John Brewin ask the big question of the summer so far: who is John Textor? And what is going on with the ownership of Lyon and Crystal Palace? Lyon used to be one of Europe’s model clubs but now they are facing the prospect of relegation to Ligue 2. What does this tell us, not only about Textor, but about the multi-club model in general? Is there any upside at all in it for clubs. There is one Textor club that is having a great summer, though, with Botafogo through to the last-16 of the Club World Cup. All four Brazilian teams, in fact, have progressed from the groups. (31:27) Why is Brazilian club football so strong again? And does that change how we feel about Gianni Infantino’s big party in the USA? Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another summer, another tournament enlivened by marauding hordes of Argentina fans taking over beaches and shopping centres. On today’s Libero, Miguel Delaney, Rory Smith and Jonathan Wilson discuss what it is that makes Argentinian football culture so passionate and so appealing to outsiders, whether we overlook the reality of it in favour of the romance, and whether its allure is really a measure of our anxiety over the sanitised, commercial world of European football. James Horncastle dials in, too, to offer his thoughts after experiencing the imported South American atmosphere in Miami, and we contemplate the impact of conflict in Iran on next year’s World Cup (50:05). Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here we go, right into transfer season, so Miguel Delaney, Rory Smith and Jonathan Wilson discuss how it all actually works from a media perspective, as well as how reporting on it has evolved into an entire industry of its own, an adjunct to the actual football. We also (38:06), aware of our own hypocrisy, discuss an actual big transfer: Florian Wirtz to Liverpool. Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Libero goes on location as James Horncastle reports from the Hard Rock Stadium after Boca Juniors v Benfica. Is our Italian stallion getting swept up by Gianni Infantino’s Club World Cup? Then, back across the Atlantic where John Brewin, Miguel Delaney and Tariq Panja share their thoughts on the tourney so far, where they’re watching on a channel better known for serial killer documentaries. Then, at (24:36), they start the real quiz. Transfers, better than the football itself? The team considers the changing face of the recruitment game, from pushy parents to blue-chip, fully corporate agencies. Are the bad old days of third-party ownership coming back? Which clubs do things differently? Will a couple of high-profile legal cases turn things upside down? Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s Club World Cup time, and Libero are just as excited as you are. Today, Miguel Delaney, John Brewin and Rory Smith discuss how this tournament came to be, and what its existence tells us about the power (im)balance of world football. In the second half (38:18), they discuss what the tournament might bring as a sporting spectacle: for all the misgivings over how it came about, will it produce any football worth watching? And is part of the problem that most football, no matter how artificial and commercialised, is worth watching? Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s episode James Horncastle, Jonathan Wilson and Tariq Panja discuss Luciano Spalletti’s shock (is it?) departure as Italy boss and what bigger meaning does it point to about that state of the Azzurri. Before moving on to the status of the Nations League and asking whether the competition finally hit the big time? Or is it just another needless extra in football’s bursting-at-the seams calendar? In part two (27:24), Jonathan takes us on a magical mystery tour of his attempt to get to one game in one city in the United States of America. Full of twists, turns and a baffling array of chance encounters, Jonathan’s journey offers an insight to what might be in store for fans attending this summer’s Club World Cup. Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in at [email protected] Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today Jack Pitt-Brooke, James Horncastle and Rory Smith discuss the most wonderful time of the year: the transfer market between football executives. They ask why we have become so fascinated by sporting directors, and why some of them have become almost as famous as the players themselves. James explains the history of the role in Italy, and Rory and Jack try to work out when and why it finally became a big part of the Premier League landscape. (39:46) They try to pick apart what the role actually does, whether you want a Monchi, a Fabio Paratici or a Michael Edwards, and what best practice recruitment actually looks like in 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices